Wringer



Patented Sept. l2, 1939 UNITED ASTATES PATENT OFFICE A 2 Claims.

This invention relates to clothes wrlngers and has for its purpose toprovide means for preventn lng damage to operators' hands and toarticles of clothing passed therethrough.

It is an object of this invention to provide in such a wringer amultiple roll construction adapted to prevent the winding of the work onthe squeeze rolls.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a hand guard inorder to prevent the ac-l cidental engagement of the lingers of anoperator with the squeeze rolls of the wringer: s

It is a further object of this invention to provide stripper means forpreventing articles of clothing winding on the squeeze rolls of thewringer.

It is a further object of this vide a self-feed for a wringer.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a drain boardhaving` a splash board adjustably secured thereto. whereby to preventdrainage to the delivery side of the wringer and contact with the wrungor dried work.

It is a further object of this invention to pro` videv such a drainboard which is rigidly attached to the wringer frame and may serve tooperate in the above manner to drain selectively to either side of thedrain board to provide for reversible operation of the wringer withoutthe use of an adjustably mounted drain board.

These and other advantages will appear from the following descriptiontaken in connection with the drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the invention to prowringer,with the frame latch in open position;

yFigure 2. isV an end elevational view of the l wringer, as seen fromthe left end of Figure l,

with the roller drive cover removed to show all the roll drive means;

Figure 3 is an elevational view in section of the wringer, taken on theline 3--3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a plan view vof the drain board and attached splash board;and

-pression 4 adapted to engage a complementary projection of oneof theside standards 2, while a latch member 5 is pivotally mounted at the(ci. ca -264) opposite end of the top member and is adapted to beselectively engaged with or disengaged from a projection 6 on theopposite side standard. The side standards 2 are' each shapedsubstantially like an inverted cross having a horizontal 5 portion 'iextending in both directions adjacent the base .of the frame; The abovedescribed members are preferably of angle form and the members 2 eachhave inwardly directed substantially U-shaped anges which extend ateither lo side of the squeeze rolls and around and adjacent the lowerportion of the lower squeeze roll. The horizontal portion i serves tosupport bearing members 9, invwhlch are journaled the 1ends of the lowerrolls of the wringer. These l5 bearing members, as shown, are of wood,but it is understood that any other suitable material may be usedandthat the construction of these bearings may be varied within rather widelimits. The lower rolls are three in number and comprise 20 a centrallylocated lower squeeze roll, generally designated III, and guide andstripper rolls II disposed at either side thereof and having lightcontact therewith. The rolls I0 and I I comprise pntles rigidly securedto non'resilient bodies, `25

which bodies have resilient clothing or covers of rubber or equivalentresilient material.

The pintle of the roll I0 extends beyond one end of the roll I0 asubstantial distance and terminates in the shaft .portion I2 having akey- 39 way I3 to provide means for attaching to the shaft portion I2suitable powenmeans, such as a drive pulley, gear or hand crank.Suitable bearing means I4 is slidably supported by the upper verticalportions of the side standards 2 and '35 the upper`squeeze roll I5,which is of construction similar to rolls I0 and II, is journaled ateach end to be freely rotatable therein. The bearing members I l areurged downwardly by a leaf spring I5a which has each end resting upon 40one of the bearing members I4 and has a depres sion I6 in a centralportion, in which is adapted to rest the lower end of an adjusting screwI6. By this means, the pressure of contact between the upper squeezeroll I5 and the lower squeeze 45 roll I0 may beadjusted as desired.

Suitable attaching means, such as bolts I1- and wi-ig nuts I8, areprovided for attachment of the lower frame member I. The upper squeezeroll I5 is freelyrotatable and resiliently urged 50 downwardly againstthe lower squeeze roll I0, as pointed out above. The guide and stripperrolls II and lower squeeze roll IIl are all driven at the same speed andin the `same direction. The means for accomplishing the joint drive of65 these rolls comprises the gear I9, non-rotatably secured to thepintle of the roll I0, adjacent one side standard, the gears20 attachedin like manner to the pintles of the rolls II and the idler gears 2I,which drivingly connectI the gear I9 with each of the gears 20, andwhich idler gears are mounted for free rotation on pintles 22, which aresecured to the plate 23.l The plate 23 is rigidly secured to one of theside standards and is adapted to have a housing or gear casing 24suitably attached thereto by means of screws or studs 25. The bolts I1and nuts I8 also provide means for attaching the drain board 26 to theupper surface of the frame member I, as

is shown particularly in Figure 3.. The drain board is substantiallyrectangular, but has the side edges thereof arcuate, as shownparticularly in Figure 4. The upper surface of the drain board inclinesdownwardly from the center at a slight angle, as may be clearly seeninFigures 3 and 5. The heads of the bolts I1 are adapted to be attachedto the drain board 26 through the circular portion of the keyhole slotl21. The arcuate side flanges of the drain board are designated, 28 andhave pivotally secured thereto by means of rivets 29 or other suitablepintle means, side flanges 3l of splash board 30. The upper surface ofthe splash board 30 is arcuate and concave, as is shown particularly inFigures 3 and 5.

Suitably attached at each side of the vertical portion of each sidestandard 2 is a lug 32, which has a hole therein, which is adapted toreceive the upper hook portion 34 of a stripper plate supporting arm 33.The arms 33 are thus removably and pivotally attached to the wringerframe. A stripper support member 35 of angle form is secured at eitherend to one cf the paired stripper plate supporting arms 33 at each sideof the wringer frame. Rigidly secured to the stripper support member bymeans of plate 31 and a plurality of screws 38 is a resilient stripperplate 36 f means 39 comprises a pair of screws which ro.

tatably support the ends of the roller 40, but it is to be understoodthat a rod extending between the arms 33 and secured at each end to oneof said arms, may be used. The guard rollers 40,- as illustrated, aremetallic, but it is to be understood that the showing thereof is merelyillustrative and that the construction thereof may be varied withinrather wide limits.

Operation With reference particularly to Figure 3 of the drawings, itwill be seen that, upon application of power to rotate the roll II) in aclockwise direction, the rolls II will also be rotated at the same speedand in the same direction, while the upper squeeze roll I5 will berotated in a counterclockwise direction by contact with roll IU. Theoperator applies pressure to the left side of the splash board 30 andtilts it until the lefthand edge thereof is in contact with the topsurface of the drain board 2B. Clothing is then inserted between thelefthand guard roller 40 and the lefthand roll II which is, in thiscase, the feed roll. Contact of the operators hand with the guard roller40 will prevent the hand from being caught between rolls I and I5. Thisis facilitated by the rotatable mounting of the roller 40. The contactof the operators hand with the roller 40 will swing stripper platesupporting arms 33 toward the roll I and the stripper plate 36 'will bebrought into contact with the roll I5. 'The contact of the stripperplate 36 with the roll I5 will prevent clothing from being wound on theroll I5 during operation of the wringer.

Theclothing is carried by the feed roll II into contact with the lowersqueeze roll I0, which is driven, and thence between the lower squeezeroll I0 and the upper squeeze roll I5. When the clothing travels to theright of the squeeze rolls,

-there will be a tendency to travel around the periphery of the lowersqueeze roll I0, but this is prevented' by the driven rotation of therighthand roll II which, in this case, is the stripper roll and tends tostrip the work from the lower squeeze roll I0 and prevent it from beingwrapped around the lower squeeze roll and thus preventing injurythereto.

When' the splash plate 30 is tilted in the above-described position, itsrighthand edge is adjacent the lower peripheral portion of the stripperroll II, and it is thus seen that liquid removed from the work istransferred by the splash plate 30 to the lefthand inclined surface ofthe drain board 26 and prevented from reaching the righthand portion ofthe drain board- 26. It is, of course, to be understood that Icomprehend the use of reversible drive means for driving the shaftportion I2 vwhereby to rotate the lower squeeze roll I0 in eitherdirection. When the direction of rotation is opposite that describedabove, the rolls I0 and II will rotate in a counterclockwise directionand the righthand roll I I becomes the feed roll and the lefthand rollII becomes the stripper roll, and the upper squeeze roll I5 rotates in aclockwise direction and, instead ofthe splash board or plate 30 beingtilted to the left, it will be tilted to its rightmost position and therighthand guard roller 40 and the righthand stripper plate 35 willoperate in the same manner as the lefthand guard roller and lefthandstripper plate 36, described abo-ve. This is extremely convenientbecause the operator in reversing the operation of the wringer is notrequired to move anything but the splash board 30 which maybe easilyswung downwardly by a sim-ple push, and it will be seen from Figure 4that, when the lower rolls are rotating in a clockwise direction, thedownward push is opposed by the guide roll I I when the operators handcomes in contact therewith, whereby there is no possibility whatsoeverthat the operators hand may be injured in performing this simple pushingoperation. This structure thus makes the reversal stantaneous with thereversal of the power and A greatly facilitates s-uch operation of thewringer,

while providing the utmost safety of operation.

It is thus seen that my invention consists of four features, namely,stripper plates 36, guard rollers 40, driven feed roll, driven stripperroll and rigidly mounted drain board 26 having the splash board 30adjustably mounted thereon, and it is, of course, to be understood thatthe omission of one will not affect the operation of the others. Forinstance, the guard roller 4I) might be omitted, the stripper plate 36might be omitted and one of the driven rolls II might be omitted withcorresponding loss of function, where it was not desiredto operate thewringer reversibly, likewise the rigid drain board and adjustable splashboard construction might beapplied to `wringe'rs of substantiallydifferent construction and mode of operation from that described.

The above-described construction of the savants wringer frame is merelyillustrative and it is to be understood that my invention may be carriedout with frames oi widely varying constructions and that I do not intendto limit myself in any Way by the above description-o one frame-construction by which my invention may be carried out.

It will be further understood that the abovedescribed structure ismerely illustrative of one manner in which my invention may be carriedout and that I desire to compreheno' within my invention suchmodications as come within the scope of the claims and the invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent is: Y

1. In a wringer with a frame having mounted therein a lower drivensqueeze roll and a freely rotatable upper squeeze roll resiliently urgedthereagainst, a. pair of arms swingably mounted at one side of saidframe and having a resilient stripper plate secured thereto and adaptedto be swung into Contact with said upper squeeze roll to remove clothingtherefrom, said arms having hand guard means attached to 4their lowerends adjacent said stripper plate.

2. In awringer with a frame having mounted therein a driven squeeze rolland a freely rotatable squeeze roll resiliently urged thereagainst,

a feed and guide roll mounted adjacent said driven squeeze roll anddrlvingly conneoted thereto to rotate in the same direction, a freelyrotatable guard roller mounted on said frame for limited swingingmovement toward said squeeze rolls to a point substantially centrallyabove said guide rol? whereby to cooperate with said guide roll toprevent entry of the hand of an operator between said squeeze rolls,said `guide roll rotating in suoli direction that portions thereof adjacent said guard roller travel away from the operator.

' 4VWILMER A. FULKERSON.

